Leniart was convicted by a jury in March of capital felony and murder in the death of April Dawn Pennington. He maintained his innocence Tuesday.

The jury found that Leniart killed Pennington on May 29, 1996. Authorities say the teen left her home that night to meet with Leniart, who was 30 at the time.

Leniart was arrested in 2008 after authorities say he confessed to his prison cell mate. He was in jail at the time for raping a 13-year-old girl.

The Norwich Bulletin reported earlier that the cell mate told authorities that Leniart detailed the rape of a young girl, saying he choked her until she was dead. Leniart told the cell mate that he transported the body to a boat in Rhode Island where he "knew that the best way to get rid of her was to dump her in the water," police said.

In the gruesome case, police said that the cell mate told them that Leniart "cut the girl in pieces" and stuffed the body inside of a lobster pot.